The next morning, Regulus was woken by the first rays of sunlight which shone through the curtains. He felt around with his hands as he couldn't feel his puffskein in his arms, but as he opened his eyes the realisation hit him: he wasn't home. He remembered the events of last night and closed his eyes again, hoping to fall back asleep so he could get away from this house. He knew the first few months without Sirius would be difficult for him, but this was unlike anything he could have imagined.

Sirius... Regulus hoped he was safe, that he got to Hogwarts all right, that he wasn't in a similar situation to himself. He pictured Sirius sitting in the Slytherin common room surrounded by friends and for some reason, that only made him sadder.

Deciding he needed some fresh air, he got up from the bed and walked over to the window, sliding it open and breathing in the crisp morning air. The street outside was quiet, there were a few Muggles out and about but for the most part the village seemed to be deserted.

He closed the window again after a while and leaned against the wall, looking around the Muggle bedroom. Last night's cake stood on the desk untouched and he wasn't feeling well enough to take a bite now either, his appetite had completely disappeared the moment they left Platform 9. His eyes scanned the small room and rested on Kreacher, standing in the doorway, holding another tray. "Hi Kreacher," he greeted him.

"Kreacher has come to give Master Regulus his breakfast."

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry." He was a bit lightheaded from the lack of food since yesterday morning's few bites of sandwich, but he just couldn't bring himself to eat.

"Master Regulus must eat," Kreacher urged, taking a few steps into the room, holding the tray with outstretched arms.

"I'm really not hungry," he repeated, more sternly this time.

"Master Regulus has to eat something."

Regulus couldn't believe the audacity. His mother was behind this one, he was sure of it. Or maybe his father, or Bellatrix. But there was no chance this was Kreacher's own doing like last night. Surely his parents had to understand he wasn't in the mood to eat? Surely Kreacher understood that? "I do not have to eat when I don't want to eat!"

"M-master Regulus," Kreacher said, clearly conflicted, which only added to his suspicions. "You must eat something. It's not good for your health to go without food."

Regulus made his way over to the bed again, sitting down with his back to the elf, because his legs were starting to feel a bit shaky. "I know that."

Kreacher walked around the bed to face Regulus. "Please eat, master." He held out the tray for him.

Regulus stared at the big, watery eyes in front of him and sighed, taking the tray from him. "I'm sorry, I just can't eat right now. I'm too worried about... about everything."

"Kreacher understands, but Master Regulus must keep up his strength."

"I'll eat something later, maybe. Just...please, stop telling me what to do. Just leave me be."

Kreacher hesitated, as if debating what his next move had to be, while Regulus had been very clear about that. Frustration turned into anger as Kreacher kept staring at him instead of leaving like he had asked him to.

Regulus threw the tray to the floor, narrowly missing Kreacher. "I said, leave me alone! What good is a house elf who can't even follow a simple command? I don't want to eat, and I don't want to be bothered right now! And don't you dare question me!"

Kreacher, visibly shaken, bowed his head in submission. "Yes, master," he said. "Kreacher knows his place."

Regulus barely noticed Kreacher had disappeared as he tore at his own hair in frustration until it hurt, taking the pillows and covers off the bed and tossing them against the wall. His hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. The room seemed to close in on him as his anger surged, his heart pounding in his chest. The bed, the desk, the chair—all the objects in the room started to tremble violently and the Muggle pictures were sent flying off the walls, shattering from the impact as they hit the floor. The curtains were sent swirling in a chaotic whirlwind, and the lamp on the desk shattered into shards of glass as his vision became blurred with tears of frustration and helplessness. He fought to regain control, but the anger continued to overwhelm any rational thought. He ran into the wall, slamming his fists against the hard surface, the pain momentarily sending him back to reality before the anger took over once more, fuelled by the pain in his hands as he continued to hammer in on the wall while the whole room was shaking in response to his emotions.

Then there was a hand, two hands on his shoulders, grounding him. The room stopped shaking as he fell to his knees, and all the objects fell to the ground, many of them now broken. The hands on his shoulders had arms and those arms held him close. He buried his face in the arms, against the chest, the familiar scent of his mother calming him down in a way nothing else could. He listened to his mother's heartbeat and let his tears fall, wrapping his own arms around his mother. They stayed like that for a while, his mother gently rocking him back and forth as his sons quieted.

Finally, he raised his head, meeting her gaze. She smiled softly at him, her own eyes teary. She lifted one of her arms and wiped some of the tears from his cheek.

Regulus took a deep, but shaky, breath. "I- I'm sorry... I- I didn't mean... I'm just... I'm so tired."

"Regulus, my dear," she spoke softly. "I know you're tired, and you've been through a lot, but you mustn't let your anger consume you like this."

He looked down. He knew she was disappointed in him, he had been acting very unlike a Black all day yesterday, and today was off to a bad start as well. He knew he could be better, but it took so much strength to control his emotions. Strength he just didn't have right now.

"I know," he whispered. "It won't happen again."

"That's a good boy," she said. She helped him get to his feet, and when she next opened her mouth, she seemed almost proud. "Take a look around the room. Look at what you've done."

Regulus looked. The room was unrecognisable—not only were the pictures shattered and the floor covered in glass, pillows, wood and food, but it didn't look like the Muggle room anymore. The walls had the same colour green as his bedroom at home, and one of them even carried the Black family crest. He turned to face his mother. "I don't understand, how-"

"Magic."

The realisation hit him. He had done this. He had desperately wanted to be at home, and he had managed to actually change parts of the room to be more like home. He took another look around the room, his smile growing bigger with every homely detail he noticed. "I did this?"

"You'll be a strong wizard someday," she said, to which he beamed. A good thing had come from this after all. "Come, I'll have Kreacher clean up this mess once he's ready," she said, guiding him down the stairs.

"Ready?"

"Yes, you left him no choice but to go against my orders," she said as they entered the kitchen and Regulus saw the damage he had done. Bellatrix was helping Kreacher tend to his wounds, he was bleeding from his arms and legs and wouldn't hold still.

"Kreacher!" Regulus ran up to the elf, crouching down beside him. He wanted to give him the biggest hug, but that would only have hurt him more. "I'm so sorry!"

"It'll heal," said Bellatrix. "It's nothing to worry about."

"But I hurt him..." he couldn't keep his eyes off the elf.

"Not on purpose, and he knows that," Father interjected. "Right Kreacher?"

"Master Regulus is young..."

"Come on," his mother guided him towards the table, sitting him down on one of the chairs. She put a bowl of porridge in front of him. "Eat."

He stared at the bowl, but didn't pick up the spoon. The whimpers coming from Kreacher made him feel guilty and sick to his stomach, and he already had no appetite to begin with.

"You have to eat," she insisted, picking up the spoon herself and stirring the contents in the bowl before taking a spoonful of porridge and holding the spoon out to him.

Reluctantly, he took the spoon, and put it in his mouth. The porridge seemed tasteless but he swallowed it nonetheless, taking a few more spoonfuls under the watchful eye of his mother.

Suddenly, Kreacher jumped up, wincing slightly. "Wizards outside! Aurors outside!"

Regulus dropped the spoon and felt himself get dizzy. Aurors, here. What happened next was like a blue to him. Father and Bellatrix rushed out of the kitchen, wands in hand. Mother turned to Kreacher. "Kreacher, make sure upstairs shows no sign of us ever having been here," she yelled, and Kreacher disappeared. "Regulus," she said, turning to him. "Hide. Now."

"Where-?"

"Get under the table. Hide," she practically tore him from his seat, shoving him under the table. "Keep quiet and no matter what happens, stay here."

He saw her run off and he stayed low to the floor, shaking as he thought about what could happen to his family.

He heard a loud explosion, and his mother's angry voice pierced the air. "Get the hell away from my family!"

"Surrender and we may let you come quietly," came the cold reply.

"Surrender? Ministry scum!"

He couldn't make out more of the conversation for everything seemed to explode, all sorts of spells were thrown about and there were explosions left and right. He clung to the leg of the table, wishing he could be safe at home.

He didn't know how much time had passed when the wall separating the kitchen/dining area and the hallway was hit and crumbled. Through the gaps in the rubble he course catch glimpses of the battle, though he was scared to. More and more spells hit the wall and it started to collapse in on itself, Regulus flinched with each impact as he fought his desire to run, scream, to do something at least.

A jet of red light soared through the air, and Regulus ducked aside just in time before it could hit him, his heart beating faster than ever before.

"There's another one!"

He curled up into a ball, making himself as small as possible in a desperate attempt to hide himself from the bad guys.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The room lit up bright green and the battle died out as quickly as it had started. Regulus looked up and saw everyone staring at Bellatrix, who pointed her wand at another one of the Aurors and repeated her words. It was then that Regulus saw a body lying near him, and he let out a scream upon seeing it, before clasping his hands over his mouth in fear of being hurt himself.

The room continued to light up green and the deafening sound of panicked screaming filled his ears. He tried to block out the noise with his hands as he curled further into the ball, hoping, wishing, praying for this moment to end, for everything to go back to normal, that it all had been a bad dream and he would wake up at home ans nothing would be wrong. But he knew it was real, and that's what scared him so much. He knew it was real and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene even though he wanted to. He watched the green light hit the men, he watched them fall to the floor one by one.

The panic was over as quickly as it started—lifeless bodies taking its place as Bellatrix was laughing manically in the background. She was dancing between the Aurors' bodies, and his parents sat on either side of him beneath the table. He hadn't realised they were here until now, despite both of them holding him, his mother softly stroking his hair as she whispered words of comfort, his father squeezing his shoulder affectionately.

"Are you all right?" His father asked as they made eye contact.

Regulus nodded, though he wasn't sure why. He didn't feel all right. He felt horrible. He couldn't even describe how he felt, all he knew was that he wanted this nightmare to end.

"You're so strong," his mother said. "You've been really brave today."

As they emerged from under the table, Bellatrix hurried towards them, still smiling triumphantly.

"What happened to them?" He managed, his voice barely above a whisper as he looked at the Aurors on the floor.

"Dead!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "They thought we would come quietly, they thought they could take us down, ha! They're no match for us. Foolish idiots."

Regulus looked at his mother for guidance, and she smiled down at him. "They're dead, Regulus. It's over."

"Oh, yes. They won't be causing any harm anymore," Father added.

"There might be more of them coming," warned Bellatrix. "We can't stay here too long, we can't let our guard down—the Ministry will notice this. Six Aurors, gone."

-

That afternoon, after everything was packed and Kreacher had turned upstairs back into a Muggle area with no Black family crest or other hints to be seen anymore, they took off into the streets of the Muggle village. Regulus couldn't believe he was actually doing this—walking among Muggles!—but he didn't say anything about it. They got quite a few stares from the Muggles, but Regulus wasn't sure why. Of course, they stood out among the Muggles in almost anything, but especially their dress sense. Muggles had no idea of what clothes made them look good and seemed irrationally obsessed with trousers. Nothing wrong with robes, Regulud thought as he walked through the streets, ignoring their stares but wishing he had a wand so he could show them who knew better, who was better.

They walked on until Father ducked into an alleyway, dragging Regulus with him. Kreacher, Bellatrix and Mother followed and once they got in deep enough, they Apparated.

Regulus stumbled on his feet as they landed in a neighbourhood he vaguely recognised, though he couldn't place it at first. He followed his parents through the street until they reached a house he recognised very well—it was his uncle's! He had spent many nights here as a young boy, less so in recent years as his uncle kept inviting only Sirius to come over, and not him. It hurt him at first, but he had grown used to it.

His mother knocked on the door and his uncle answered. "Ah, Walburga, Orion! To what do I owe this visit?"

"Not now," Mother said as she pushed past him, into the house. Father followed and beckoned for Regulus to do the same. Uncle Alphard seemed mostly confused as he closed the door behind them all.

"What's going on?" He said, his tone serious.

But nobody answered. Regulus was looking around the hall, memories coming to him as he thought of how he and Sirius spent hours upon hours playing all sorts of games here, but now everything was different. Sirius was at school, hopefully safe. And he was on the run from the Ministry, on the run from people who wanted to hurt him and his family, who wanted to take Bellatrix. He wished he could go back to those days he spent playing with Sirius. Being ten meant serious business, and he hadn't been prepared for that.

"We need your help," Father eventually said. "The Ministry are after us, and Bella here just killed six of their Aurors."

Regulus saw the shock on his uncle's face as he ushered them all into the sitting room. All except for Regulus. "You should get some rest. Do you remember where your room is?"

Regulus nodded. "I do, but... I want to help!"

"This is a grownup thing. Get some rest, Regulus."

His uncle shut the door to the sitting room and Regulus made his way to the room he used to stay in as a little boy. The walls were still the same shade of blue with little stars on them, the bed covers still had brooms depicted on them and there was a box with toys on one side of the bed, a nightstand on the other. It was as if nothing had been done about this room the last five years, as if he had gone back in time.

He lay down on the bed, closing his eyes as he felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. But when he closed them, he saw a flash of green light, he heard screaming and his cousin's manical laughter. He jumped up from the bed, his heart beaning loudly in his chest as he felt the fear creep up on him again. It was as if he was back at the scene. "There's another one!", it echoed through his mind. The jet of red light, the bright green, the panic... it was on repeat. He banged his head against the wall, desperate to get it to stop, but it only seemed to get worse.

"Master Regulus?"

He snapped back, turning to face the house elf who was still covered in bandages, some of them bloodied. "Kreacher!"

"Kreacher has to take care of you."

Regulus sank to the floor. "It hurts so much," he mumbled. "It hurts so, so much..."

"What hurts you?"

Regulus shook his head. "Can I just... get a hug?"

"Of course, master," Kreacher said, already walking up to him to hug him.

"No! I mean- I don't want to hurt you..."

"Kreacher is happy to help out his master Regulus in any way."

For some reason, that was too much for him and he broke down into tears again, for the umpteenth time in the last two days—whatever must people think of him now! He curled up on the floor, hugging himself as he felt himself get sucked into that morning's battle again.

Two little arms pulled him away from the flashes of red and green, from the screams and the laughter, back from under the table into the small bedroom at Uncle Alphard's. Two little arms belonging to Kreacher, who had pulled him into a hug, and he hugged back, holding him close as he tried to focus on the here and now.

After a while, he let go of Kreacher, who stumbled back. "I'm sorry," Regulus said, getting up. "I should just go to bed. I'll be okay. You can do now, well, if you can, I don't know if- oh, nevermind. Stay if you want to. I don't even care anymore," hd sighed as he sat back down on the bed, staring at the stars on the wall. It wasn't fair that they expected him to just rest, as if today had been an ordinary day. That he couldn't even help them figure out what they could do next. It was as if they rather he wasn't there at all, he was just a liability to them. Something to look after and care for because he was too fragile to fight for himself.

And he was determined to show them he could fight for himself, that he didn't need that protection.